Here are the travel waivers for the major U.S. airlines:

American Airlines
Reservations: 1-800-433-7300
Twitter: @AmericanAir

Delta
Reservations: 1-800-221-1212

JetBlue
Reservations: 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583)
Twitter: @JetBlue

Southwest
Reservations: 1-800-435-9792
Twitter: @SouthwestAir

United
Reservations: 1-800-864-8331
Twitter: @United

US Airways
Reservations: 1-800-428-4322
Twitter: @USAirways

If you do get into a jam at the airport, call your airline’s reservations line as soon as you can. You can also tweet to your airline and possibly get a faster response—although some airlines are much better than others.

Vignelli’s designs include the iconic American Airlines “AA” logo, New York Subway signage, and the much heralded (or cursed, depending on who you ask), 1972 New York Subway map. Vignelli’s work also includes the directional signage for Washington D.C.’s Metro and the old dinnerware on Alitalia flights.

Vignelli’s American Airlines logo. Vignelli’s original design left out the eagle, but AA required its inclusion.

Vignelli’s work always focused on simplicity and clarity, as seen in the “AA” logo and his subway signage. That simplicity earned loud criticism in 1972, with the release of his New York City subway map that eschewed geographical accuracy.

A version of Vignelli’s NYC subway map.

Vignelli’s legacy as a designer is vast, but he should hold a special place in the minds of those of us who love transportation, whether in the air or on the ground.

Here are my favorite 2013 Aviation Photos, enjoy!

United 777-222/ER (N798UA) at the O’Hare Run on the Runway

JAL 9 headed to Narita takes off from RWY 28R at the O’Hare Run on the Runway

This American Airlines livery won’t be around much longer and I was very happy to get such a good shot. I was even happier to be out spotting with Jon Ostrower, Jason Rabinowitz, Gavin Werbeloff, and Bruce Bere, all avgeeks in the extreme.

American Airlines Boeing 767-323/ER on short final for RWY 22R. Because of the shifting winds that day, we spent a good portion of our time driving back and forth from one side of the airport to the other.

American Eagle Embraer E170-200-LR (E175) on short final for RWY 28R. This was my first shot of the E175 up in the air.

Etihad Airways Boeing 777-3FX/ER on short final for RWY 28R. This shot was a good cap to a day of great shots and great company as I got to meet Jay, the man behind the O’Hare Aviation YouTube channel.

For this shot of an SAS Airbus A330-343X I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I had wandered down to the beach by my house to shoot and it just happened to fly right overhead.

Whenever I have access to the ramp, the weather is gloomy. It’s just a fact of life that I’ve come to accept. But for the E175 unveiling that gloomy weather turned into an asset.

This summer I headed up to EAA Airventure or just “Oshkosh,” with Jaunted editor Cynthia Drescher. Oshkosh is an amazing collection of aviation from all over the world. From vintage civilian and military aircraft to experimental aircraft to hot air balloons. As the sun began to set, the hot air balloons got fired up, making for a great shot.

A 1943 Lockheed L-18 Lodestar’s Wright R-1820 engine at Oshkosh.

“Panchito,” a B-25J Mitchell Bomber flies at Oshkosh.

What are your favorite aviation photos of 2013? Let me know in comments.

The Bean in Millennium Park

The Bean—officially “Cloud Gate”—is a great place to sit for a while and people watch. In the winter, the plaza along Michigan Avenue is turned into an ice rink, drawing tourists and Chicagoans alike to music-filled fun on the ice.

These youngsters are busy practicing their pairs routine.

Millennium Park is also a great place for a little planspotting. Planes pass directly overhead on their way into and out of O’Hare Airport. I had the good fortune to capture the Hainan Airlines 787 from Beijing.

A Hainan AIrlines 787 flies its downwind leg on approach to O’Hare Airport.

The attraction north of Millennium Park, along Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, are the beautiful old buildings and the bountiful people watching. At the start of the Mag Mile is the Carbide and Carbon building, built in 1929 by Daniel Burnham’s sons. The Art Deco building currently houses the Hard Rock Hotel.

The top of the Carbide and Carbon Building. The gold leaf is illuminated at night.

Further north, just across the river, the Wrigley Building sits in the shadow of the Trump International Tower, now the second tallest building in Chicago.

The Wrigley Building’s south tower in the foreground and Trump Tower looming.

The plaza below the Wrigley Building is the perfect place to stop and enjoy the river traffic and foot traffic. On a day last week when the temperature was 14℉ I saw a woman walking with nothing covering her legs and no gloves. But she did have earmuffs!

Not a particularly comfortable way to survive 14 degrees.

At the other end of the Magnificent Mile—and at the end of my walk—sits the John Hancock Center and this time of year it’s all lit up for Christmas.

The Hancock Center, Chicago’s fourth tallest building.

If you’re in Chicago during the Winter and care to brave the cold, spend some time outside walking. You’ll be surprised by how much you see.

Mary and Bill, Camp Ground Hosts.

They would spend the summer collecting camp ground fees, maintaining the water pumps, and making sure bears stayed out of the garbage cans—an often unsuccessful errand.

A Brown Bear finds lunch in the garbage.

Oftentimes my brother and I would visit them for a few weeks during the summer, spending our time fishing, hiking, and picking blueberries and raspberries so that my grandma could turn them into jam. We’d head out on to the lake in the afternoon to catch our dinner. My grandfather would clean the fish (a rather disgusting task to a five year old) and my grandmother would toss some potatoes in the fire pit. We’d have dinner and then roast marshmallows under the most beautiful star-filled sky I’ve ever seen. At night we’d hear coyotes as we fell asleep.

My grandfather liked to take us on hikes in the woods and often times we’d stumble on wildlife. He would tell us to be quiet so as not to disturb the animals and he would quickly get out his camera. Whenever we came across a moose we were extra quiet because, mind you, moose bites can be very nasty.

After spending so much time in Minnesota my grandparents had special places that only they knew about (or at least that’s what they told the grandkids). But I tend to believe because I can’t think of a time when we saw another human being when we were off exploring. My grandfather would take us to a special lake about a 30 minute hike from the road just for trout fishing. He would also take us for hikes along smaller streams because that’s where the animals liked to go for a drink.

Spending time in Minnesota was always the highlight of my summer as a kid. It was beautiful, there were animals everywhere, and there were no chores, homework, or parents! I haven’t been back in a long time, but I’m going to try and get back next summer. Who wants to go?

I’ve digitized well over 2000 photos and I’ve just made it to 1964. While that may not seem like a lot—considering I shot 2000 photos at the Chicago Marathon this sunday alone—remember that we’re talking developed film exposures.

Here are a few shots from my grandfather’s trip to the Grand Canyon in 1964.

I’ll be adding more as my grandfather gets back to me with stories of what is actually happening in the photos. There are a few that need a bit of an explanation—including one with a bear in a campsite in Minnesota…

Location, Location, Location

The first thing you want to do is decide where you’re going to be and when you’re going to be. Find out which corral your runners are in as there are two start waves this year, 7:30 and 8:00. From there you’ll be able to determine about where you’ll find your runners based on their pace. An often overlooked, but important, piece of information is what side of the street you’ll be standing on. Your runners are concentrating on running 26.2 miles, they don’t need to be searching through the crowds to find you. Make sure you communicate with your runners where you’ll be.

Properly spectating a marathon is hard work.

For Chicago, you can comfortably see your runners 3 to 4 times during the race depending on their pace. The faster your runners, the fewer times you’ll see them before the finish. Miles 3 through 12 are basically a big loop through the north side so you can easily see your runners twice while only walking about a block. Miles 3 & 11.5 or Miles 4 & 11 are going to be good places to catch your runners. The annotated map below shows where I plan to be on Sunday during the race. I’ll be moving around a lot, but you can safely visit 3 spots and see your runners 4 times. Mile 16.5-ish is a great place to see runners as it’s right off the Blue Line, so you can hop right back on to head to the Finish near Roosevelt and Columbus. The Roosevelt Road bridge is a great place to cheer finishers, but get there early as it gets crowded.

There are additional security precautions in place this year, so be aware that spectators are not allowed in the Start or Finish area during the race.

Tracking Your Runners

An easy way to keep track of your runners for the Chicago Marathon are text messages from the marathon. You’ll get a text message when your runners cross the 10k, Half, 30k, and Finish. If you and your runners have iPhones you can install the Find My Friends app and track them in real time. The Chicago Marathon also has an official app this year with maps and spectator information.

Post-race, have a designated place for a post-race meet up away from the finish line, as the finish area is a sea of sweaty near-incoherent runners. Don’t rely on your phone as 60,000 people trying to use their phones within a few blocks of each other tends to crash the network.

Have fun, take pictures, and enjoy! And to all you runners: have a great race!

Seating Assignments

Once onboard I was met with the problem of where to sit. Much like Southwest, there are no assigned seats and every seat is certainly not created equal. On this particular trip I was treated to the new 5000-series model, which is slowly replacing the older 2000- and 3000-series models the CTA operates. While the 5000-series is noticeably quieter, smoother, and brighter, it’s main feature (one might argue flaw), is the center-facing seating arrangement, similar to the one used by the New York Subway.

CTA 5000-series.

The problem is the CTA’s implementation of the new layout. The chorus of complaints has actually become so loud that the 7000-series models the CTA will begin operating in 2016 will feature a different layout that solves the problems of the 5000-series. The 5000-series is designed to allow more room for standees. It does this by severely reducing the comfort of seated passengers. Instead of operating the open bench seating like New York, the CTA went with individual bucket seats, with posts strategically placed for standing passengers. Basically, each seat is like a middle seat on Spirit Airlines.

That said, there are a few good seats on each car. Near each door are seats that face the end of the car instead of the center. These are the best seats in the cabin, but they’re also priority seats for passengers in wheel chairs, so you may lose your seat at some point in the journey. Slightly less than awful seats can be found at the ends of the cabin. The end seats have a good deal of space between the side of the seat and the wall, providing some welcome respite from the otherwise sardine-like journey.

Best seats in the 5000-series.

The Onboard Experience

Once seated—thankfully in a seat at the end of the cabin—I put my bag away in the under-seat area. While not specifically designated for baggage, it’s a handy area to store your belongings. After stowing my carry-on, I enjoyed the entertainment system, which is completely different every trip. On this particular journey I was able to watch an episode of “Angry Woman Screaming into a Cellphone.” Admittedly not my favorite show, but I hadn’t yet seen this particular episode.

After the show ended, I decided to check out the AVOD. I saw that nearly everyone had a PED, so I thought I might have missed the purser handing them out when I boarded. Then I realized each person needed to supply their own PED. As much as that irked me, I had brought along my iPad, so I got it out of my bag and decided to get some work done. The cellular connection was reliable, although there’s no WiFi, something I hope the CTA is working on.

There is no meal service whatsoever; as the CTA expressly forbids eating and drinking, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that the CTA offers an onboard duty-free experience. A young man offered passengers chocolates for $1 each, noting that the proceeds went to benefit a local high school sports team.

As I neared my destination, I collected my belongings and steeled myself for the push through the sea of humanity to the “closing doors.”

I set off from my house and made my way to the station a short distance away. One of the benefits of living where I do is the close proximity to the train. Because I’m a Chicago Card Plus holder, there’s no need to stop at ticketing, I can head straight to the gate if I want and that comes in handy on days when I’m running late. The Chicago Card Plus (soon to be the Ventra Card) offers two payment options, pay-per-use and monthly unlimited uses. As I’m only a CTA Platinum rider, the pay-per-use option makes more sense for me, but were I to move up to Chicago Executive Platinum or, dare I dream, Chicago Services, the monthly plan would make more sense. The good thing about CTA fares are that walk-up fares are the same price as advance-purchase tickets making spontaneous trips accessible. It’s nice that buying a last minute ticket doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

Another great thing about the riding the CTA is the ability to do as many free same-day changes as you want. Want to take an earlier train? Just show up at the station and catch the next train. Had a meeting run late? No worries, there’s another train a few minutes away. No change fees, no need to reprint your boarding pass, just head right to the gate and you’re good to go. And the best part is this feature isn’t available just to Chicago Transit Elite members, it’s open to everyone.

 Granville Station

Arriving at Granville Station, I had a few minutes to kill before my train, so I decided to pick up a paper and a bottle of water. The downside at Granville is that almost all of the amenities are before security, so you’ll need to give yourself a few extra minutes if you want to do any shopping.

Pre-security shopping at Granville.

However, many CTA passengers leave behind such amenities when they are done using them. This offers the opportunity for acquiring free amenities should you find yourself without a drink, a snack, or some printed entertainment while aboard.

Free on-board amenities.

Boarding on the CTA is all automated and very similar to what Lufthansa has been working on in German airports. I touched my Chicago Card to the reader and I was through in seconds.

Security and boarding all-in-one.

This really is an ingenious way to board and I can definitely see this being adopted across the travel industry. As this was a day-trip I had packed light, but there is a dedicated lane for those with larger suitcases and over-size items.

I was surprised to find that the lounge after security is quite spartan, with only a Coke machine for refreshment and literally no seating whatsoever.

The post-security lounge at Granville.

Out at the gate area things aren’t much better. It’s a tradeoff, frankly. On the one hand, there are benches. On the other, passengers are completely exposed to the elements, save for a thin piece of tin that barely protects from the occasional light drizzle.

Gate area seating.

I headed up to the gate as it wouldn’t be more than a few minutes before my train arrived and I wanted to do my best to get a good seat.

My ride.

In Part II I’ll talk about boarding and the trip itself. I’ll also cover the seat map and a little advice on the best seats on the train.

My Divvy experience began at the station at Fullerton and Racine near my office. To get a Divvy bike you can either become a yearly member for $75, or pay for a 24 hour pass. Each bike pass is $7 for 24 hours, with a 30-minute limit on individual trips. For 30-60 minutes an additional fee of $2 is charged. Riders are charged more the longer they keep the bike without docking it. Divvy is not meant to be a bicycle rental though. It’s geared toward short directional trips like errands and riding to lunch, making the initial 30 minutes just fine for most riders.

Renting a bike for the first time takes a few minutes of agreeing to terms and entering some personal information into the kiosk. The only issue I had with renting the bike was the touchscreen. It seemed to accept my commands haphazardly and the calibration was off. It took me two minutes to enter my phone number because every time I would press one number, it would recognize a different number. After signing my life away and dipping my credit card I received a receipt with a code printed on it. Entering the code at the bike corral of my choosing got me a bright blue Divvy bike.

The bikes themselves are actually quite nice. Solidly built in the model of Dutch commuter bikes, the bikes are manufactured by Cycles Devinci, a Canadian company that supplies multiple Canadian and American bikeshare programs, including Montreal, Toronto, and Boston. The bikes have a 3-speed hub gear system and a ridiculous little bell. There are front and rear lights that are peddle-powered which means they’re always on while riding. The placement of the rear lights, however, is in my opinion, much too low. The lights are mounted in the rear bracket, making them nearly invisible to anyone driving a car taller than a Lotus. The seat is comfortable and easily adjusted. The real value of the Divvy bikes lies in the front-mounted cargo rack. Complete with an industrial-strength bungee cord, the rack held all of my errand-spoils and my briefcase easily. The only thing the bikes could really benefit from is a rear cargo rack to improve its carrying capacity.

Divvy Bike cargo rack easily holding my briefcase.

The ride was solid as the nearly 40-pound aluminum frame and rugged tires take the bumps and potholes of Chicago’s streets quite well. The three-speed bike is good for riding from stoplight to stoplight, but also for zipping along. The brakes were a little soft, but it wasn’t much of an issue because I never really got going fast enough to have the need to slam on the brakes. All of the machine components of the bike are covered, so you don’t have to worry about getting chain grease on your pants.

Returning the bike when I was done was as easy as pushing it into one of the stands at the station and waiting for the light to turn green and let me know it was locked. Overall, Chicago’s bikeshare is off to a good start. The rental system is easy and straightforward. And based purely on my very unscientific survey of looking around when I’m outside, I see that Divvy’s are being used regularly.

Divvy makes it easy to find a bike with their online station map. They also show where the next stations will be as the system expands outward from downtown. Blue markers show the current stations and yellow shows the planned stations. When the system is fully operational it will be easy to grab a bike and go just about anywhere.

Divvy’s fill that niche when you want to go to lunch and it’s just a little too far to walk or you need to run some errands midday, and they fill it well.